Chapter Three

Life had changed drastically for Ron in the span of about four months. Not only was he an Auror in training, but finally he, Harry, and Hermione were allowed to sit in on Order meetings. There was no longer any point denying they were as much a part of this war as the adults, and if he and Harry were going to be risking their lives every day, they had a right to know what was going on. Naturally, there was no stopping Hermione once Moody had given him and Harry permission to join. His mother, who was still adjusting to the idea of him as an Auror, had some difficulties accepting the three of them as full-fledged Order members.

Needless to say the three of them had been excited to finally be allowed into the Order, but the novelty of it had worn off within the course of a few weeks. Order members were dying all the time and no matter how many Death Eaters they and the Ministry Aurors took out, more seemed to creep up and take their place.

The morning after his and Harry's involvement in the explosion in Diagon Alley, Moody had called a meeting at Phoenix Headquarters for all those that could attend. His father wasn't there, which was to purposely avoid suspicion at having the Minister of Magic show up late for work. For that same reason, Hermione had gone to work, but not before making him promise to tell her later everything she had missed. He and Harry weren't scheduled to patrol until later on that day to give them a few extra hours to recover from the previous day's events, and Moody and Tonks basically made their own hours so they were present as well. Lupin, Bill and his mother rounded out the group.

"They're still investigating yesterday's attack," Moody began in his normal gruff tone. "But it looks like we may never figure out what was hoped to be gained from it."

"It doesn't make sense that they would grab some girl in public and try to take off with her for no reason," Bill spoke up.

"We think they may have blown themselves up as a last resort," Tonks said. "When they saw Ron and Harry they realized that if they couldn't escape, they couldn't allow themselves to be captured either, and wanted to go out causing as much damage as they could."

"I'm no expert on how the mind of a Death Eater works," Lupin started. "But it seems as if there's been an array of mystifying attacks like this lately."

Moody nodded in agreement. "A lot of the attacks don't coincide with the way they behaved the last time You-Know-Who was in power. It's as if they're purposely trying to further confuse the Ministry with these unprecedented attacks. If we can't identify a single area or originating point, we have to keep the Aurors spread thin to cover all possible areas."

"Mackenzie's got another batch of trainees she's readying for field work," Tonks informed them. "They should be ready by the end of the month."

Mackenzie was now an Order member as well, having been recruited personally by Moody. She didn't attend regular meetings, but she passed on whatever intelligence she could.

"Isn't that rushing things a bit?" Mrs. Weasley said concerned.

"Molly, we've been through this," Moody growled, impatient. "They knew what they were getting themselves into when they started training. There's a war going on and right now we're at a severe disadvantage in terms of numbers. If we don't keep turning out new Aurors, it will only be a matter of time before we're overrun with Death Eaters. The latest census done placed the number of Death Eaters in the hundreds, and that was only an estimate. We have no idea how many of them are actually out there, which is why we need to continue taking down as many as possible."

Molly Weasley still didn't look happy with Moody's reasoning, but she let the argument drop for the time being.

There wasn't any new information to be shared after that, so Moody ended the meeting shortly thereafter, everyone going their own separate ways to start the day.

After all she had seen and done in the Department of Experimental Charms, it made Hermione wonder how she could have ever been disappointed not to return to Hogwarts. Yes, she loved all of her lessons and most of her professors, but what she was doing now was so much more meaningful. As it was, she was working on several spells still in the testing phase that would aid the Aurors out in the field once they had passed all the necessary tests and were deemed safe for human use.

It was her first big project since starting there, and after weeks of being stuck in the theory phase, ensuring all the necessary elements were balanced, she had finally moved on to more practical development. That was what the small laboratory was used for at the end of a winding corridor in the department. It was off limits to all those that didn't have the magical pass code to gain entry. In a department of forty people, only about fifteen had access to it, including herself. She was in there now, trying out the spell she had modified for the third time that week, hoping now to finally see some positive results.

An Auror was most vulnerable when he or she lost their wand or was surrounded by too many enemies to possibly take out before being hit. There wasn't exactly a solution for this, as wandless magic could not be practiced by anyone who had not inherited it from birth. It wasn't the type of thing that could be taught. It was common for witches and wizards who had been using magic for years to develop the ability to perform simplistic charms without the aid of a wand, but that would be the extent of it. They would still be as defenseless as the next person if caught in an attack without their wand.

Based on the readings she had done and the report papers that had been given to her, there was the theory that those who could practice wandless magic could only do so because it was already written into their DNA. If that same pattern could be copied, then anyone could have ability to use it. It sounded simple enough, but she had read the accounts of what had happened to those who tried manipulating their DNA for that same purpose. The results had been disastrous and all subjects had died within a short time.

After weeks of reading, she came to the conclusion that the tests had failed because the candidates had been all wrong. They already had magical deformities that rendered their bodies incapable of making the transition.

With much trial and error Hermione had finally developed what she felt was a workable way to generate wandless magic. She hadn't mentioned to anymore that it might not be entirely safe for the user.

She had tried out simplified versions of the magic for reading or other basic tasks, but now would be the first test of it as a defensive tool. She was still somewhat hesitant because this would be the first time she tried it out on another human being. The director of the department, Jack Anderson, looked confident that this would work, which only made her more nervous. She was sure it wouldn't look good on her record if she permanently injured, or worse killed her boss, even if it was unintentionally. That was why he had insisted being the one she tried it out on, not wanting to endanger the life of anyone else unnecessarily.

Jack was standing with his wand out, waiting for her to disarm him. "You've done the revisions to the spell and I approved them myself. Trust me, I wouldn't be letting you do this if I didn't think it would work."

Resigned, she closed her eyes and willed herself to concentrate more intently then she ever had before, forever thankful for the anti-ricochet charms on the walls to prevent the spell from doing even more damage if the situation got out of control.

She felt energy course through her more powerful then any of the previous times she had tried it. She pictured Jack's wand clearly in her mind and reached out with her left hand, shouting, "Expelliarmus!"

She immediately opened her eyes, watching as a seemingly invisible force pulled the wand free from Jack's grasp and sent it flying halfway across the room. Jack shook his hand and grimaced.

"Are you all right?" She asked worriedly.

"Just stung a little. I'll live."

He held out his hand and she cringed inwardly at the red blistering welt forming on the palm of his hand.

"I'm sorry. I thought I had that fixed," she said, the frustration evident in her voice.

"If that's the most damaging side effect of the spell, I wouldn't worry about it," he told her. "We should be able to fix that. I'll get Davis to work on it. Once that's settled, we can begin testing out more complicated charms."

Hermione felt her spirits deflate. She still couldn't work out the last minor kink and now he was giving the project to someone else to handle. Someone with much more experience and a completed magical education. Now she was wishing that she had finished Hogwarts, that extra year of magical training could have helped her to solve this.

"There's something else I want you to begin working on. It's actually more important than this."

Hermione perked up. She didn't think there was anything more imperative then giving the Aurors who could handle it the advantage of wandless magic. It must have been highly classified if she had not heard about it before then.

Anderson moved towards the small, sealed container that he had brought in the room with him. He retrieved his fallen wand and pointed it at the container. It unsealed itself and he pulled the lid off. He reached in and removed a small circular shaped object on a chain. Hermione couldn't even begin to guess what it was made of. It looked to be almost glowing blue in colour. She thought maybe it might be metal, until he put it on the table and it looked too flimsy to be anything resembling that.

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

"It's something the Department of Mysteries has been working on for about five years now," Jack started to explain. "And until a short while ago, no one outside of there knew of its existence. In simplest terms it's a charmed object designed to increase the natural magic abilities of the person wearing it. We're still waiting for a lot of the paperwork to be de-classified, but what we've been able to determine so far is that when it's worn it somehow attaches to the user's body and begins mixing with the bloodstream. The magical properties it possesses is quite unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. The Unspeakables have been trying to duplicate its powers for years without success. The only two in existence were found in South America ten years ago."

"Has anyone tried to use it?" She said, inspecting it closely.

"Yes, but the user has never been able to keep it on for more than a few hours before they started showing ill effects – increased heart rate, fever, delirium, even heart attacks. It has to do with the chemical reaction the body has to the magical properties being pumped into it."

"Do we have any idea what these magical properties are?" She asked him.

"As I mentioned before, all the research is still being de-classified, but I don't think the Unspeakables were ever able to figure out what made it work, or how someone was able to create something like this. That's where we come in," he said with a grin. "It's been cleared of any contaminates and passed all the hazardous charms it underwent. It's safe to study in an open environment. Since the Department of Mysteries has about a hundred other projects on the go, we're taking this off their hands. I'm not expecting overnight progress but I think once we have all their research materials we may stand a better chance of discovering how it works."

Hermione was thoroughly fascinated by it, and she could see how it was a bigger priority then her previous project. Where not everyone was capable of learning wandless magic, if they could figure out how to duplicate the properties of the charm, anyone could wear it. She wanted to get started on it straight away, but her boss had other ideas.

"Listen, it's been a long morning. Why don't we grab something from the Atrium café and then come back up. This isn't something that's going to be solved in a day or two anyways."

She took notice of the time then and discovered it was already after one thirty. The mention of food made her realize she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. It couldn't hurt to take a break.

'You know, I'm really glad I listened to Arthur Weasley," said Jack, opening the lab door.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that when he approached me, asking if I would just interview you for a position within the department, I thought he was mad. I mean you had no experience – hadn't even graduated from Hogwarts, and here he was wanting me to consider you as a candidate. It turns out he couldn't have been more right. I need to finish up a couple of things, but I'll meet you downstairs shortly," he finished and walked out the door.

Hermione stayed where she was, still digesting what he had said. She couldn't imagine Mr. Weasley going around the Ministry trying to get her a job without her consent. It didn't make any sense. A horrifying thought struck her then. What if Ron had gone to his dad to ask in her place? She quickly quelled the anger boiling inside her. No, Ron was a lot of things, but deceptive he was not. He would never go behind her back like that. All she had to do was ask him and he would tell her that he hadn't said a thing. Yes, all she had to do was confront Ron and then everything would be fine.

She purposely stayed late at work that night, knowing that Harry and Ron wouldn't be done their shift until seven. When it was almost nine and Ron still wasn't home, she used Remus's fireplace to floo to Harry's.

She found both boys there in the living room. Harry was lying sprawled out on the couch and Ron sat half-passed out in a large armchair. Ron looked up when he saw her step out of the fireplace and gave her an inviting grin, despite how tired he looked. When she didn't return the look, the grin vanished off his face.

"What is it? Did something happen?" He asked, concerned.

Harry shut off the telly and looked at her as well.

She might as well just get this over with. She didn't know what she was so worried about in the first place. She knew Ron wasn't involved. She was only asking for her own piece of mind. "Did you ask your dad to get me a job at the Ministry?" There. Now all she had to do was wait for Ron to clear himself of any involvement.

Ron looked thrown by the question. "I don't understand – why are you asking me this?"

He was stalling – this wasn't good. But she still couldn't allow herself to jump to conclusions. "Did you go to your dad and ask him to help me find a job so I wouldn't join the Auror program?"

She saw the guilty expression plaster itself on his face before he even spoke. "Hermione, you have to understand I was trying to give you the same opportunity you would have had if your had finished Hogwarts."

She was numb with feelings of shock and betrayal that a full ten seconds passed before she spoke again. "You used your dad's position as Minister to coerce someone into giving me a job?"

"What? No!" Ron denied, jumping to his feet. "Hermione it wasn't like that."

"Were you in on this too?" She demanded, staring accusingly at Harry. Harry looked very much like he wanted to disappear, but she saw him just visibly nod his head.

"Hermione, please give me a chance to explain," Ron said, his voice pleading. He reached out for her hand but she moved out of his grasp. She didn't want to have any part of him touching her. She took some satisfaction in the hurt look on his face when she recoiled at his touch.

"Explain what? That you've been lying to me for months? I bet you had a good laugh, thinking you'd finally outsmarted me," she said, her voice shaking with anger.

"No, you've got it all wrong," Ron said, fervently shaking his head.

"How could I be so stupid? I actually believed how happy you were when I got that owl from the Ministry about the job, but it was all an act. You never wanted me in the Auror program and you did whatever you could to keep me from it. I shouldn't even be at my job! I only got it because you interfered!" She shouted at him. She had never been angrier in her life then she was at that moment. She had actually defended Ron in her head, thinking that he would never be capable of such deception.

"Maybe I should – ?" Harry started to say and stood up.

"No, you stay. I'm leaving." She turned quickly and stormed from the room. And if Ron actually had the nerve to come after her, she was going to let him have it.

"Hermione, come on, don't be like this," said Ron, chasing after her.

"You're right, I'm completely overreacting. Why should I be upset when really I should be thanking you for wanting to protect me? Is that what you were waiting for? You thought I would actually be grateful to you?" She seethed.

"Look, I did want to protect you, and maybe I didn't go about it the best of ways – "

"I didn't ask for your protection! I told you it was my life and I needed to make my own choices, but you weren't even listening!

"You want to be angry that I lied, that's fine. But all I wanted was for you to have every opportunity that you deserved. If you can't see that then it's your own damn fault!"

"Maybe I should just quit my job and become an Auror! It's not like I even deserve to be there.

"You wouldn't," said Ron, though his tone sounded like he thought she might actually be capable of doing just that.

"Watch me," she fumed, and headed for the front door.

"Don't throw this away, just because you're trying to get back at me."

"You are so full of yourself, Ron Weasley! Whatever choice I make I can assure you that it will have nothing to do with you!" She wretched open the front door and slammed it shut behind her.